Thursday, September 29, 2011

FedEx Spends $2.8 Million Lobbying in 2nd Quarter

AP Updated 3:25PM Print | Front Page | Email this story

WASHINGTON (AP) –Memphis-based FedEx Corp. spent nearly $4.9 million lobbying the federal government in the second quarter on legislation that would have made it easier for its workers to unionize, among other issues, according to a disclosure report.

That's below the more than $7 million the world's second-largest package delivery company spent in the second quarter of 2010 but above the $3.9 million it spent in the first three months of the year. The company's larger rival, Atlanta-based United Parcel Service Inc., spent about $1.1 million on lobbying in the second quarter.

In the second quarter, the company continued to lobby Congress on the FAA reauthorization bill, which will speed up replacement of radar-based air traffic control with a more advanced satellite-based system.

FedEx had been vocal in its opposition to a small section of the bill that would move its employees to a new federal classification that would have made them easier to unionize. Congress has not yet come to an agreement on the bill. Now, only the shipper's pilots are unionized.

The company also lobbied on other legislation involving airport and airway funding.

Between April and June, FedEx lobbied Congress, the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration, according to the report filed with the House clerk's office.